Prose from the Pros #13: Neil Gaiman


Today is the second day of my Pennwriters Conference in Pittsburgh. While I learn everything I can cram into my brain, I want to leave you with a thought on dreams and writing from Neil Gaiman.

I've written about the use of dreams to weave symbolism into your fiction and poetry, and I think they provide rich inspiration for writing. Dreams open a door to who you are.

In Gaiman's introduction to Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, he discusses how to use dreams in your writing.

"I love dreams. I know enough about them to know that dream logic is not story logic, and that you can rarely bring a dream back as a tale: it will have transformed from gold into leaves, from silk to cobwebs, on waking.


Still, there are things you can bring back with you from dreams: atmosphere, moments, people, a theme."


Have dreams ever made it into your writing?

Comments

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said…
Well he wrote "Sandman" for Pete's sake. That's like asking a person that owns a restaurant if they think customer service and good food are important.
May 14, 2011 at 10:58 AM
A Girl and Her eBooks said…
I absolutely love Neil!!!
May 15, 2011 at 2:16 PM
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